Secret Chamber: The Quest for the Hall of Records

by Robert Bauval

Among the author's many discoveries, Robert Bauval is the first to link the the alignments of the pyramids in Giza, to that of Orion's belt. In this work he states evidence for the long lost "Hall of Records" spoken of by Edgar Cayce and throughout ancient texts. A very interesting and provocative read.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Egypt, Archaeology, Reference, Historical, Ancient History

433 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Robert Bauval was born in Egypt in 1948. A construction engineer, his interest in Egyptology is longstanding, having lived in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East for much of his life. In the 1980s, he developed a line of study linking the pyramids and the so-called Pyramid Texts with astronomy and famously published the best-selling The Orion Mystery. He has also written three books with best-selling author Graham Hancock (The Message of the Sphinx, Talisman, and The Mars Mystery).

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's been several years since I last read, or tried to, this book. At the time of its release, the subject very much interested me and I hoped the book would be as good as one of his other books, The Orion Mystery. Sadly... it's not.

Secret Chamber is, in my opinion, heavy to get through. The small printing and thickness of the paperback/"pocket" isn't helpful either. It feels like a thick brick and pages are hard to turn (affects the cover and spine).

Plus, Bauval's writing style here is a drag. The book advances very slowly, you have to keep your mind and attention to it all to understand what he's talking about, which links are made, etc... I might start reading it again later, but now I don't have the time or energy for it.

[Noella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pseudo-wetenschappelijk, heel intrigerend om te lezen.

[Tracey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have had this book on the to read shelf for a while and decided it was time to finish it off. Now I have to admit that I have read a great deal of these type of books that purport an alternate history to what is currently considered as fact ie the timeline of when the pyramids was built. I find these type of books interesting but more often than not the theories are based on half ideas that are fleshed out to become probable but never realised. I mean how many times can the Ark of the Covenant or the true mean of the Holy Grail be 'discovered'?

Anyway back to Bauval's book, first of all this is not about a secret chamber under the Sphinx or the Pyramids as is purported. What this book is about is about the politics of who owns the history of Egypt and who can hold the 'true' history. Through Bauval you meet minor and major players who are all trying to lay some claim to know the true history of Egypt. There are many faults with the book but what for me made it interesting was how all these parties want to discover something about ancient Egyptian History interact with each other and the protectiveness of what they claim to know. What is skimmed over is the amount of money that the media has brought into this environment, the live broadcasts, book deals for all making 'that' discovery and the impact this has had on cash strapped archaeological parties.

As for the secret chamber it seems to be still that but reading this you understand why archaeology the claims to discovery of anything new or different from the mainstream can jeopardise your professional standing and that is not confined to Egypt. I remember the controversy around Lucy and the discovery of the 'hobbits' in Indonesia.

The book was hard to read in that jumped all over the place and bits like 'author's inspirational drawing' did make laugh but Bauval has provided an interesting insight into the politics of history in Egypt.

[Andreas Schmidt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Questo libro di Bauval si discosta dagli altri benché abbia una specie di ampia introduzione in cui l'ingegnere edile belga cerca di spiegare che cosa ci può essere nella piana di Giza. Che sia un luogo straordinario, nessuno ormai più lo mette in dubbio. Che sia un sito particolare, nemmeno questo è posto nel dubbio. Al di là di semplici ricerche mitologiche (tra l'altro alcune molto interessanti che presentano Iside con in braccio il figlio Horus, e figura anche nel suo apparato iconografico, è un'immagine molto potente che dipinge il cristianesimo niente di meno di quello che è: un rimaneggiamento lineare di una religione più antica, ma questo è solo un aspetto), al di là di un grosso "corpus" che spiega l'ermetismo prendendo in considerazione anche il rinascimento italiano e la massoneria (che strano a dirsi ma ha influenzato molto la cultura moderna), FINALMENTE giunge a qualcosa di più concreto. Questo libro ha avuto anche l'effetto positivo di farmi andare a cliccare nel sito di Gantenbrink, un ingegnere esperto di robotica tedesco che ha svolto ricerche nella grande piramide con un robot che sostanzialmente è un capolavoro della tecnica (per il 1993) e che ha scoperto alla fine del condotto nella Camera della Regina la lastra di pietra (o porta). Dietro a tutto questo, c'è un massiccio lavoro di molte persone che vorrebbero guadagnare il bottino che deriverebbe dalla scoperta che senza dubbio è la più sensazionale del secolo: fama o denaro. Gli egiziani hanno tutte le ragioni di questo pianeta per tenersi strette le piramidi, al di là del fatto che sono in Egitto, dall'altro c'è chi vuole essere ricordato al pari di Champollion e chi invece vuole guadagnarci fantastiliardi di dollari. Questo libro finalmente getta luce su due cose fondamentali: 1) il perché Gantenbrink malgrado la sua conoscenza di robotica (del resto, è tedesco, il che è tutto dire) non sia stato autorizzato a procedere per capire cosa ci sia oltre la lastra di pietra del condotto (a quanto pare, è accaduto qualcosa di "politico" nel 1993 e parrebbe che Gantenbrink abbia proceduto senza l'autorizzazione della sovrintendenza eccetera); Bauval nella sua esperienza di ingegnere edile suggerisce che quella lastra sia a scorrimento, come del resto presenza di malta di gesso lungo il condotto sembrano confermare che un cavo o una corda fosse stato fissato durante la costruzione - come possa funzionare pertanto dopo la costruzione mi sembra un po' strano perché il minimo errore e la lastra non sarebbe scesa in posizione - in quell'angusto corridoio di 20x25 cm quindi avrebbero fatto passare dei papiri o comunque testi iniziatici che non dovevano essere letti se non da una cultura in grado di aprire la porta (ipotesi affascinante, ma mi sembra eccessivo per una civiltà fondamentalmente legata alla magia - e soprattutto, al di là della pietra c'è una stanzetta vuota, come dimostrano i video del 2003). 2, fatto che passa a mio avviso in secondo piano, una giusta risposta al libro "Il complotto Stargate" che chiama in causa servizi segreti britannici e americani e chi più ne ha più ne metta, in un enorme calderone di paranoia con una fantasia che forse neanche un film di hollywood sarebbe in grado di creare.

[Andrew Ives · Rating 3 out of 5]

Secret Chamber has an attractive and mysterious cover, looks like a quality hardback and is well printed, which must be what lured me in. On closer inspection, this book is a long, hefty, hard-going tome of about 400 pages, which is not at all pacy, not brilliantly organised nor immaculately proofread. Bauval is a reasonable writer, who remains relatively sober considering the subject matter, but he does get excitedly embroiled in political affairs that I'm sure most readers don't care about, repeats himself occasionally, frequently mentions every book he ever played a part in and is prone to the odd flight of fancy. I would estimate this book is about 50% about who argued about what with who and when, 20% actual archaeology/science/history/astronomy and 30% wild conjecture and speculation based on dubious meanings behind ancient pyramidal texts, the Freemasons, the Bible and similar sources. Also, as this was written in 1999, it looks forward to the ceremonial capping of the Great Pyramid of Giza at the turn of the millennium, which I think didn't actually take place.

All in all, this is not a bad read, just a little hard-going and disappointing. I rather enjoyed the chapter where Bauval goes down in the Bir behind the Sphinx, and the maps, diagrams and meteorite photos were very welcome. 3.25/5

[Sravanesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

What's the connection between the stars of the Orion Constellation and the Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt? How old is the Great Sphinx? What is contained in the secret chamber?

Answers to these questions are explored in this book as well as Bauval's journey with dealing with the bureaucracy of Egyptian historical authorities. This book is more of hypothetical book when explaining these mysteries than representations of fact. Bauval feels an intrinsic connection between all these and explores possibilities based on age old allegories and myths.

(Spoiler ahead)

In answering these questions, Bauval postulates the Great Sphinx was created with superior knowledge of technology and architecture taught by another race. This race is the question of great debate and Bauval eventually settles on the Atlantians; a mythical society which technologically advanced. The postulation of the 10,000 BCE creation of the Sphinx and the hypothesis of hidden Atlantian scrolls hidden in the Secret Chamber in the Great Pyramid are the culmination of his hope to find the basis of humanity's genius. We might never know since we might never reach the innards of the Secret Chamber.

(Spoiler over)

This is a great exploration into the unknown and gives credence to what would otherwise be wild guesswork. By providing a good basis, Bauval holds his readers in suspense as to what exactly is in the Secret Chamber. Perhaps such secrets would be discovered with greater technology in the coming years, but if you want a historical episode combined with mythical and hypothetical guesswork, you might want to read this book. I enjoyed it but the end of this book left me with a great pang of loss for what we could have discovered had we opened the Chamber. For that, this book was a great tease, but otherwise, it is a good book.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed it

a lot of what goes on behind the scenes is included in this.

Hawass seems to be an interesting man......

the book is a bit dated now as it has the run up to the millennium, but a good read none the less.

[Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is incredibly thought provoking and evocative of so many possibilities. Highly recommended.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to come back to this book as I thought it was the only one. I also have The Orion Mystery. I'm off to read them. Back later ;)

[Jan]

Location read: Stellenbosch